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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. cold — an illness
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. craft — boats
  5. lie — to recline
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. face — part of the head
  8. ball — a great time
  9. chest — of your body
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. craft — a skill
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. ball — a dance
  14. cold — not warm
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. face — to confront
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. scale — in music
  22. chest — a box
  23. face — to point toward
  24. chest — of your body

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com